Political correctness across the Atlantic
From Telegraph.co.uk (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/08/wiraq308.xml&)
"Private Johnson Beharry's courage in rescuing an ambushed foot patrol then, in a second act, saving his vehicle's crew despite his own terrible injuries earned him a Victoria Cross.
For the BBC, however, his story is "too positive" about the conflict.
The corporation has cancelled the commission for a 90-minute drama about Britain's youngest surviving Victoria Cross hero because it feared it would alienate members of the audience opposed to the war in Iraq."
In the U.S., we worry about offending veterans. In Britain, they worry about offending the war opposition.
"The BBC's decision to pull out will only confirm the fears of critics that television drama is only interested in telling bad news stories about the war."
In my opinion, this story is bad news. What is good about soldiers almost getting killed? They are lucky this guy had the balls to save them.
"Despite his very serious injuries, Pte Beharry then took control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness. He required brain surgery for his head injuries and he was still recovering when he received the VC from the Queen in June last year."
Yeah, sounds like an uplifting way to end the story. Brain surgery and probable permanent injury. I'm guessing that the reason they chose not to air the TV drama is not that there's something wrong with airing a heroic soldier's story. If that is the case, I'm disappointed in the BBC. My guess is that the story is being told in a way that glorifies the Iraq war, which would obviously offend people, including myself. If I was telling it, the war wouldn't seem very positive, but this guy sure would.
"Private Johnson Beharry's courage in rescuing an ambushed foot patrol then, in a second act, saving his vehicle's crew despite his own terrible injuries earned him a Victoria Cross.
For the BBC, however, his story is "too positive" about the conflict.
The corporation has cancelled the commission for a 90-minute drama about Britain's youngest surviving Victoria Cross hero because it feared it would alienate members of the audience opposed to the war in Iraq."
In the U.S., we worry about offending veterans. In Britain, they worry about offending the war opposition.
"The BBC's decision to pull out will only confirm the fears of critics that television drama is only interested in telling bad news stories about the war."
In my opinion, this story is bad news. What is good about soldiers almost getting killed? They are lucky this guy had the balls to save them.
"Despite his very serious injuries, Pte Beharry then took control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness. He required brain surgery for his head injuries and he was still recovering when he received the VC from the Queen in June last year."
Yeah, sounds like an uplifting way to end the story. Brain surgery and probable permanent injury. I'm guessing that the reason they chose not to air the TV drama is not that there's something wrong with airing a heroic soldier's story. If that is the case, I'm disappointed in the BBC. My guess is that the story is being told in a way that glorifies the Iraq war, which would obviously offend people, including myself. If I was telling it, the war wouldn't seem very positive, but this guy sure would.